Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s 36th death anniversary on April 4, 2015 saw many events, speeches and articles celebrating his legacy. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) commemorates its founder’s vision and works every year on the day. Unlike the other parties that lobbied factions of the rich and powerful like feudal landlords, entrepreneurs and industrialists to get elected, PPP traditionally has gotten its support from the working class, peasants and the poor that represent the majority of the population. Despite all the controversies surrounding Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s political career, it was clear that he was dedicated to ensuring the rights and betterment of the lives of the poor and downtrodden. Benazir’s return to Pakistan and her joining of the struggle to oust Musharraf and restore democracy to Pakistan shored up support for the PPP in the sections of society that had elected it in the past. The last PPP government under President Zardari however, failed to deliver a clear mandate emphasising the interests of the poor and middle classes and Pakistan’s deteriorating educational, healthcare and other social sectors. The PPP today seems to have lost a great deal of its earlier exceptionalism. Bhutto’s policy of nationalisation could only be successful if his government had taken responsibility for the public sector and worked tirelessly towards its development through professional management rather than the bureaucracy. Seemingly having learnt nothing from that past experience, the previous PPP-led government did not oversee a major paradigm shift in the way the remaining state sector was run. After being relegated to the opposition as a result of the 2013 elections, the PPP has failed to emerge as a strong opposition that a burgeoning democracy like Pakistan needs. While it is important for political parties to cooperate to prevent the derailment of a democratically elected government and to pave the way for future civilian governments, PPP’s strategic alignment with the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has proved disappointing to the marginalised factions of society. Protests by these factions, like farmers and the blind, have been ruthlessly crushed by the PML-N government’s police and the PPP has not raised the legitimate concerns of these marginalised and deprived groups in parliament or outside it. Neither Bilawal nor Asif Zardari has been able to fill Benazir’s shoes as the leader that the PPP needs. The charisma of political families tends to wear off in the later generations when they lose touch with the party’s original ideals. PPP’s support amongst the masses has greatly declined since Benazir’s assassination because it is no longer pushing for the rights of the working class, peasantry and the poor, as the PML-N relentlessly moulds policies to benefit the one percent at the expense of all others. The best way for the PPP to commemorate their founder’s legacy is by returning to working towards the development of the country from the grassroots level up. This is the only way that the party can regain the support of the masses and have an illustrious political future reminiscent of its former glory.*